Urijah Faber’s spot on the UFC roster is safe regardless of outcome against Ivan Menjivar

Earlier this week a story surfaced on the newswire pointing to bantamweight star Urijah Faber as being at risk of release if unable to exit the Octagon with a win tonight at UFC 157. Rather than an item plucked from some anonymous source, the matter was given substance based on comments UFC President Dana White’s made at a press conference when addressing the company’s recent cuts.

Faber was asked to address the situation by Fuel TV after stepping on the scale for his scrap this evening against Ivan Menjivar. Rather than show concern, “The California Kid” cleared things up, saying White came up to him directly and assured him it was a misunderstanding being blown out of proportion.

“By no way is he planning on cutting me,” explained Faber, stating he didn’t see any sort of threat in White’s original remarks on the subject. “I watched the interview. It was a bunch of talk about Jon Fitch and then some reporter said, ‘What about Urijah Faber?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you never know.’ And the next thing you know people were saying all sorts of stuff about it.”

With a little less pressure on his shoulders, Faber will go into his match-up with Menjivar in hopes of making one more run towards a title-shot. The two threw down in 2006 with things ending after Menjivar landed an illegal kick to the downed Faber, though the former WEC champion doesn’t expect any sort of similar result this time around.

“Menjivar has been very well-rounded for a long time so there will be some glimpses of that old fighter I fought but we’re both so different (now),” said Faber of his foe.

Fans can catch them clash on the PPV portion of UFC 157. Faber holds an overall record of 26-6 with 21 finishes and wins over stand-outs such as Brian Bowles, Eddie Wineland, and Dominick Cruz, while the 25-9 Menjivar has come out victorious four of his last five fights including three by way of a stoppage.